OCTOBER 20--Varioptic SA (Lyon, France; www.varioptic.com), the company that invented the liquid lens, has announced its new semi-automated pilot production line is up and running. It will roll out prototype lenses. Varioptic can now supply its customers with a reliable finished product that has passed the company's stringent quality-control and evaluation tests. Varioptic's partners can now design production facilities for output volumes of several million units per month.
Varioptic decided to invest in its own production line in early 2005 on securing ISO 9001 certification. The move was in accordance with company policy of making quality integral to business development.
"The manufacturing process we have designed has enabled us automate the critical stages and so supply our partners with reliable products," states Varioptic's vice president, engineering, Jean-Jacques Louart. "We have proved not only that we have a clean-break technology but that we can meet high-volume production needs. More than anything else we want to see our lenses swiftly incorporated into consumer goods."
Varioptic S.A, venture-backed by Sofinnova Partners, PolyTechnos Ventures, and NIF Partners, was founded in 2002. The company pioneered the development of electrowetting technology to create autofocus and zoom lenses with no moving parts. These products feature several crucial advantages over traditional technologies in terms of cost, dimensions, power consumption, and speed.
